Robin Jones - The Rain Song (Led Zeppelin)

 

Robin Jones' arrangement of Led Zeppelin's "Rain Song". On his website you can buy the tab if you wish to play it. 

Here you can buy the tab

Here you can subscribe to get all of his content  

Daoiri Farrell - Blackwaterside

Another gem from Daoiri Farrell. A version of The Bonnie Irish Maid or Blackwaterside. The lyrics here don't match Daoiri's always. Here's a link to the lyrics he uses but the chords are a bit different and in G.

Live Version, Capo 5

Studio Version, Capo 3

{t:Blackwater Side - Bonny Irish Maid}

{st:Daoiri Farrell}

{c:Capo 5}

As [D]I went out one [G]morning [A]fair, so [A7]early [A]as I [D]strayed

It being all in the month of [G]May the [D]birds sang [A]in the [G]shade[A]

The [D]sun shone down right merri[G]ly and the [D]water did [A]swiftly [G]glide [A]

Where the [D]primroses [D/F#]and [G]daisies [A]grow, down [A]by Black[A7]water[D]side

 

I [D]had not gone but [G]half a mile when [D]there by [A]chance I [D]spied

Two lovers talk as they did [G]walk down [D]by Black[A]water[G]side

And [D]as he held her in his [G]arms, these [D]words to [A]her did [G]say

"When [D]I am in A[G]merica I'll be [D]true to my [A]Irish [D]Maid"

 

"T’is [D]when you are in A[G]merica those [D]Yankee [A]girls you'll [D]find

And you'll have sweethearts of your [G]own more [D]pleasing [A]to your [G]mind

Do [D]not forget the promi[G]ses and the [D]vows you [A]made to [G]me

Oh, [D]stay at home love, [G]do not roam from your [D]bonny [A]Irish [D]maid"

 

"T’is [D]when I'm in A[G]merica, those [D]Yankee [A]girls I'll [D]see

And they must be very hand[G]some, to re[D]mind me [A]love of [G]thee

For [D]there's not a bird in yonder [G]bush or [D]flower in [A]yonder [G]glade

That [D]does remind me [G]love of thee, my [D]bonny [A]Irish [D]maid"

 

"It's [D]many's the foolish [G]youth" she said, "has [D]gone to some [A]foreign [D]shore

Leaving behind his own true love be[G]hind, for [D]ne’er to [A]see no [G]more

It's in [D]crossing of the Atlantic [G]foam, some[D]times their [A]graves are [G]made

Oh, [D]stay at home love, [G]do not roam from your [D]bonny [A]Irish [D]maid"

 

These [D]two young hearts to[G]gehter so [D]fondly [A]did em[D]brace

Like honey drops upon the [G]dew, the [D]tears ran [A]down her [G]face

"There’s [D] not a day while you're a[G]way I'll [D]visit [A]still these [G]glades

Un[D]til you do re[G]turn again to your [D]bonny [A]Irish [D]maid."

I made some tabs for the intro and verses in Tabledit, which is an app I really can recommend.

You can download my tabs from my Dropbox.

Intro

1st verse

2nd verse

4th verse

Graham McDonald - How to build an Irish Bouzouki - Online Course and Plans

Many years ago Graham McDonald released a book how to build bouzoukis. He is a luthier and builds bouzoukis for about 40 years now. So he knows what he does. You can buy his book on Amazon or as Ebook from McDonald Strings.

The first chapter can be downloaded as a .pdf here and  Andy Irvine's Forward can be downloaded here .

The full size plans can be downloaded separately here. 

Now he released an online course on this topic. On YouTube you can watch the introductional video which I enclose here. So if you ever wanted to build your own bouzouki this one's for you.

Matt Heaton - Thoughts on accompanying Polkas

Matt Heaton posted a series of bouzouki videos on YouTube some time ago. I can highly recommend these to any bouzouki player. There are videos on different keys, rhythms and chord overviews. One type of tune that is often overlooked is the polka. In this video, 

Matt shows his approach to accompanying polkas. Since the bouzouki tends to vibrate due to its double strings, it is not advisable to play too loudly. Here, he shows a way to play more delicately and emphasise the rhythm. The emphasis here is more on the second beat. This results in a slightly bouncing rhythm.

BB's hopefully helpful Harmony hints for Irish Traditional Musicians

Bill Black is hosting an interesting website with some information for Irish Musicians.


http://capeirish.com

You'll find some original tunes, trad. songs, writings and other useful things. Especially the section called "Reference Library" contains interesting documents.

Here you'll find his text: "BB's hopefully helpful Harmony hints for Irish Traditional Musicians" which he has updated and extended in 2019. There you find information about building chords, harmonization, Scales and Modal tunes.


Also a basic Session Tune list, a tune library of about 10 000 tunes and a text concerning the concept of the Session and some Banjo hints and tips.

If you find this useful you can buy me a pint.

Matt Heaton - Chord Overview - Chords in the key of G

Interestingly, most people visit the chord page here on the blog. Perhaps this great video by Matt Heaton gets a little lost in the shuffle. In this video, he shows chord shapes in the key of G major. Many chords are close together, making them easy to play. I posted the information on the video about four years ago. Perhaps you'd like to watch it again. 

Matt has published several videos on chords and tunes on youtube. Just look for "Backer Corner Bouzouki" and you'll find lots of good instructional videos he made.

Here's a list of his Backer Corner videos (Bouzouki and Guitar )

If you find this useful you can buy me a pint.

Matt Heaton - The Black Rogue Tab

Matt and Shannon's session was great fun again. They played some well-known tunes as well as some lesser-known ones. Matt played his bouzouki on three sets. Today I tried to pick out his arrangement for the jig ‘The Black Rogue’. In the first run-through, he mainly uses an open A chord (x707) in the A section. He also accompanies with beautiful bass lines.

The tune starts at 19:14

You can download my tab here:

If you find this useful you can buy me a pint.

Matt Heaton - Collected Bouzouki Tabs for GDAD

Since Covid, Matt and Shannon Heaton have been holding regular VirtualGuided Sessions (VGS) on YouTube. Unfortunately, they now only brighten up our day with their beautiful tunes once a month. Matt accompanies Shannon on the guitar and bouzouki. His playing is sensitive and precise. 

In the past years I posted several Tabs I made of accompaniments from videos by Matt and Shannon Heaton. Here's a list of the tabs I made so far:

The Maid Behind The Bar - Reel

Poll Halfpenny - Hornpipe

A Fig For A Kiss - SlipJig

Joe Bane's - Barndance

Otter's Holt - Reel

Haunted House - Jig

Lord Mayo - March

Inis Here - Waltz by Shannon Heaton

Sean South Of Garryowen - March

Ger The Rigger - Polka

Song Of The Chanter - March

The Wren - An Dro

The Black Rogue - Jig

Buy me a coffee or a pint

Several people have asked me how they can support my work and my blog. Well, now it's very easy: you can buy me a pint or a coffee. Just click on the beer on the right and you will be redirected to the ‘Buy me a coffee’ website. There you can enter the amount you wish to donate. 

Alternatively, you can scan this QR code.

Many thanks in advance to everyone who would like to support me with a small donation.

Guitar to Bouzouki conversion

It seems that many people are interested in converting a guitar into a bouzouki. This does not appear to be particularly difficult. To get around the problem of string suspension with the pins, you can, for example, attach a new tailpiece. Of course, two additional holes have to be drilled in the head of the guitar. You can either simply drill two holes at the top of the headstock. Or you can go to the trouble of filling in the six existing holes and drilling eight new ones, which certainly looks much better.

Then the bridge insert and saddle need to be converted to 8 strings. Particular care should be taken when working on the saddle.

In any case, it should be noted that the fingerboard is very wide compared to a bouzouki, which will certainly not appeal to everyone. Personally, I would find it too wide. I am also not a fan of the sound of the gizouki, or whatever you want to call it. But that is all a matter of taste.

Here's a website where a guy called Keith Hempsey shows his conversion of two guitars. 

Robin Jones - The Lakes Of Pontchartrain Lesson

This is a lesson that many musicians have surely been waiting for. A classic Irish folk song. I think the most famous version is by Paul Brady. But there are many other fantastic recordings of the song.

In the first part, Robin introduces the song and shows the chords and a basic pattern for accompaniment.

In the second part, which you can buy on his website, he shows you the intro, interlude and a few more nice tricks. 

If you like it, you might want to consider registering for a monthly subscription. This will give you access to all his workshops and support Robin in his work. I hope he will continue to offer more workshops for some time to come.

Here's the link to his website

TradChords - Website to find chords to accompany tunes

Just found this website. It might be of interest if you are looking for chords to accompany a tune. Sometimes you can find chords on thesession, but not too often. So this is a website where you can find chords to lots of tunes. Also you can contribute the chords you use to help others.

On this website you'll find the dots for the tunes, also a player which is able to play the tune with and without chords.

So have a look at the website at: https://tradchords.org

 

Robin Jones - The Cliffs Of Moher - Tutorial

I cannot recommend Robin Jones' workshops highly enough. Over the past few months, he has created some fantastic workshops on mostly well-known tunes. His latest workshop covers the jig ‘The Cliffs of Moher’. He teaches the melody step by step and shows various embellishment options. But I particularly like the intro. This is also well explained. Similar intros can now be worked out with slight changes and used for other tunes. Take a look at the video. The second part is available to purchase on his website. You might also consider becoming a member, which would give you access to all the workshops produced so far.

Oh, and he has recently started offering tabs for each workshop. This means you can practise at any time without having to watch the video.

Here you can get part 2:

Luke Ward - Bouzouki Lessons on Patreon

It's now a half year that Luke Ward started his Workshop series on Patreon. First he offered a course for beginners, I wrote about that some time ago. In January he startet his second Tiers for intermediate players. As I had a bit time lately I enrolled his second Tiers and am really impressed. So far I looked a 3 Workshops. 

He starts with the Jig "Banished Misfortune". No explanation about Jig Rhythm here because it is explained in the first Series. He follows the melody of the tune with the chords. Not too difficult but sometimes a bit challenging.

The second Tune he offers is the reel "The Boys of Malin". This time a different technique, a plucking technique. This leads a bit in direction of Eoin O'Neil or even Alec Finn. It gives an easy start to learn this technique. I hope there will be more workshops to come to develop this technique.

In another Video  he talks about "Relative Pitch" and offers some exercises to bring chords to a scale. A very basic technique which helps a lot find good chords for accompanying tunes.

Now I'm curious what else is to come.

If you want to learn to play the bouzouki better try these lessons by Luke. At the moment there seems to be an offering for half the prize in the first month, so better try soon. 

Check it out here:

On youtube you can find some short clips as introduction. For example here: https://youtube.com/shorts/IslhBtBTfSM?si=plu9T-PCU18-0ZIz

Piaras Ó Lorcáin - talented young bouzouki player and Singer

Piaras Ó Lorcáin is a 22 year old bouzouki player and sean nos singer and farm worker.  I just recently discovered him. What a voice he has! He did not make any recordings as far as I know but there are some videos on youtube and instagram.

The Valley of Knockanure live from Kinsale